diana reception or more from rachael jackson reception? >> thanks so much. >> dave really as don said tried to keep it very quiet. and the announcement was made at the beginning of october. they got marry in the middle of december. so they really only had to endure the -- the attention of the press for about two months. and again it was a very, very different time and nobody was expected to get out there diana style and be father christmas. >> wouldn't you say the caller talked about rachael jackson. there was an undercurrent of a little bit of scandal or whatever that he was involve in this woman. >> there were several scandals, one of which and we haven't really addressed it. but woodrow wilson was involved with another woman during the time he was married to ellen. he met mary allen holbert peck

in 1907. by 1908, he had scribbled on a little note somewhere. my precious one, my beloved mary. i don't think he sent it to her. i think he was venting her feelings. ellen was upset. she accused him of emotional love for this woman. but she tolerated mary and tried to protect woodrow from the scandal. there still was some scandal. theodore roosevelt was invited in the 1912 election to make use of this. somebody said that they had letters between woodrow and mary. and although they were never as ardent as his letters to ellen had been, they were simply compromising. and roosevelt said, no, that would be wrong. and also that nobody would believe him. >> yeah. because that was -- that was very noble of theodore roosevelt. but you said -- you said, what -- i can't believe that

somebody who looks like the apoth care's cud could be romeo. i don't believe that. >> doing the best t.r. invitation on the program. >> no. this momentous on the united states and those who enter world war i. what happens in the white house in terms of their social, they're entertaining. what does she do to support the war effort. that's an important part of her story. would you talk about that? >> poor edith gets pitched into the white house in the middle of the war, in the middle of his term without any preparation whatsoever. and she was -- she really rose to the occasion. and she was, as i said, very pop yue wlar the press because of ellen's ill health, the press had not been very taken with her. and edith had the doubly trying situation of having to have two receptions because she couldn't have all of the warring ambassadors with each other. so she had to have a party for

the outlies and the party for the central powers. she really was terrific and everybody was impressed with her good firm hand shake. and very impressed with her sense of style, no poor little brown dress for edith. >> she was a wealthy washington socialite and a business executive. >> i wouldn't say she was a socialite. her husband had been in trade, meaning he was a businessman. and that was not the creme de la creme of washington society. so there was a certain amount of dubiousness about that. but as john said, there were scandals also to the extent to which she and woodrow had been intimate. later on she makes a big protest, a big international scandal, really, out of refusing to accept the designated british ambassador because the assistant

was telling naughty stories about him. >> back to the wilson house on s street in washington, d.c. >> we are in the library at the wilson house with bob inholm, the executive director. you can see some of the artifacts in this room from wilson. but there are a couple of things in here that are very related to edith and woodrow wilson. why don't you tell us what this is on the desk. >> we display the pen that was used to sign the declaration of war in 1917. what i think is interesting is that it's edith wilson's pen. we've been discussing on the program that it was very much with the president participated in his dligss on a variety of issues. when the declaration of war was passed by congress, the president was with edith and not near a pen of his own and she

offered one of hers to sign that historic document. we have that here. we know that edith was part of the president's regular routine in dealing with the policy issues and the business of government. every day after dinner, he would retire to the office in the white house, the president's office. and go through his drawer, i might think of it as an inbox. you can see this is a box with the lock and key with the president's important papers to be delivered to him. and then he would be able to go through them. the president and mrs. wilson would go through the papers tofgt. it was her habit to put them in order. they would decipher together coded messages. so it's interesting that this lays the groundwork for her role as steward of the presidency when the president was -- >> our guest back on the set had been talking about edith and

ellen wilson. what do you think of the legacy on edith wilson? what is the legacy of edith wilson? >> i think the most important thing that edith wilson did was to bring the role of the first lady into the modern era in the sense that she supported the president and was aware of some of the issues that he was involved with. and my take on her role in the stuartship is a little different from some, because i think that her -- her authority within the government relied almost entirely on the president's affection for her, trust for her, respect for her. i think you wouldn't expect that she would betray that trust in order to go to the cabinet or the vice president or someone else. so i think she had that important role of being the help meet to the president in a very modern way. >> we're at the wilson house in northwest d.c. this is where edith wilson lived postpresidency until 1961 when she died in this house.

we've got one more visit here. and it's kind of a special guest that we'ref going to introduce you to in a little while. >> thanks, bob for bringing us to the wilson house tonight and showing some of it to the viewing public. well, we should say that when woodrow womenson makes a decision to the war, he goes all in. you write about a fact that what america could contribute was manpower to this? >> yeah, well, i mean, it was a stalemate. although russia collapsed. and the bolsheviks when they came in, lennon's policy was peace at any price. he paid a terrible price. but this meant that the germans could finally fight the battle they wanted to fight, the war they wanted to fight. they do the frank oppression war over again. so they could throw everything at france. that's what they had a chance to do in the spring of 1918. and it's a race against time for

us to get the dough boys there. now, the british and the french, bless their hearts, held on that one last time and locked that german offensive. but they were able to do it because they knew that the yanks are coming. that materiel money, we bailed them out. they were bankrupt at the time, we were able to bail them out. >> provided the dough boys, the foot soldiers, and the "dough". >> yes. >> how many casualties in the war? >> 140,000. >> and what was our -- when was in a? >> november 11, 1918. >> and then wilson moved from war president to peacemaker. >> peacemaker in chief, that's right. he decided early he was going to go parls and be our chief negotiator because he wanted to shape the peace as best he could there. he knew we had come into the war

later than the others and for different reasons. and he knew there were real differences. >> is travel with him on that trip. want to take a call on it and have you come back and talk to us about how that was staged and how important it was ultimately to the peace that was shaped. lewis, los angeles, you're on the air, welcome. >> yes, my question is what was or how was the league of nation s a -- was it a triumph for the president or a failure to the president wilson and how did mrs. wilson take it? because she left it a little longer. she went a little longer than president wilson. how was it on their legacy that the league of nations failed? thank you. >> it's both, a triumph and a

failure. it was terrific. and then we never joined the league of nations. that's what happened in world war ii, there is a prophet of woodrow wilson. there's the prophet we did not heed. here was the man who predicted this. if we had listened to him, we wouldn't have had this terrible second war. i think that's quite overdrawn. but still there's a kernel of truth to that. i mean it's hard to imagine that we wouldn't have played at least some kind of more constructive role in world affairs if we had gone into the league of nations. >> and edith was after woodrow's

death very active with the league of nations herself. not in the leadership way, but she used to go to geneva every year for her meetings and she would go to any country in the league that wanted to honor woodrow for his work and bringing it together. >> united nations week. we're going do this. all of the world leaders are gathering in new york city. >> if it had not been for edith and woodrow had resigned, we might have joined the leaping. >> yeah. the warped judgment of his that would not compromise. if he had resigned, some kind of something to get him out of the way, we would have joined the league. we would have joined it on a

conditional basis with a lot of hedging. it would be openly stating what all of the other nations were doing anyway. but it would have gotten us into a leadership role in world affairs, a generation before we did. that's what was lost. a generation of experience and world leadership. >> we hope you saw the beginning. edith wilson made a critical decision with the advice of the doctors to keep him in the white house and to serve as the gatekeeper as to him and keep the affairs of state going during the years when really this month he was very, very critically ill. i don't think it was with the doctors' consent. >> no. >> not a bit. >> and in october, he wrote a -- a memo that should he be subpoenaed to congress, he wanted to have something on paper early on saying that he did not -- saying exactly what

was wrong with the president. >> her memoirs, i read citations that doctors advised to him. >> of course to you, i said to you the memoirs were fanciful. she was her on public relations expert. >> edward winestein, a distinguished neurologist wrote a medical biography of wilson. he said in there takes it straight on, edith said, the doctors said, no, keep him in office. he said no responsible physician would have said that. she was making that up. >> how about that. i asked about her -- if their trip to europe as the great peacemaker -- they travelled by ocean liner to get there on a very specific day in december. what was the wilson as presidential couple arriving there. how were they received by heads of state. how was it that went on there. >> they were received in england in terms that would have been accorded to royalty. and everywhere they went, they were cheered by the pop pop yue

lace. but in the beginning, it was wonderful. but once the negotiations got under way, she went from a fairy tale existence to being extremely concerned for wilson's high blood pressure. he had had some kind of episode when he was 39 years old where he had a lot of numbness in his hand. he had very high blood pressure. all of his adult life or at least from the age of 39 on wards. kerry grayson was insistent he get a lot of exercise and rest. in the negotiations, he couldn't rest or exercise. edith would try to get him to go for a walk. and the woman who was with her, her secretary, said that she eres would never go out if there was a possibility that she would be able to take woodrow for a walk. but it was not enough. >> came back, he embarked on the

multi-city tour the the united states to the concept of the league of nations to the people of the united states, ultimately leading to his exhaustion and the stroke we spoke about earlier. we have only 15 minutes left in our program. so we're going to have to compress a lot of history in that time. we're going to return to the wilson house and introduce you to a member of the family. >> kerry fuller from westchester, new york. what's your relationship? >> my great aunt. >> how much time did you spent in the wilson house growing up? >> a lot of time, not only visiting my great aunt, but my grandfather and my great uncle. >> only relatives of edith wilson's still alive. >> right. >> what was it like to visit with aunt edith. >> it was called playing cards. we came over, we had a good meal. we played cards.

prompted by my mother to let her win every once in a while. she was a fierce woman in terms of winning. >> kinasta? >> that was the game. that was easy to let her win if i held the cards and let her go out. >> these are the card boxes that you would use. >> the cards are on the table. the table is over here. >> over here in the library. kerry fuller, did she talk about being first lady, what it was like? >> no, it was very interesting. she rarely referred to the past. if she did, she would refer to woodrow wilson as the president. but there were no past memories, really. it was interesting. >> there were special visitors while you were here? >> no, not while i was in the family. she loved her family so much. she spent a lot of time with them. >> here in the house, the postpresidency house, she would take in the family.

>> yes. my grandfather, husband, and her sister died here in the house. >> did she ever talk about ellen? >> never. but i mean that wouldn't have come up. you know, seeing ellen wilson's picture in the house is sort of funny. it just -- it was not a part of what we would have discussed. >> what about jackie kennedy? >> i was close to jackie kennedy, sitting in the car and let manage i mother and aunt in the house. i was not here. i was waiting to pick them up afterwards. >> that's when she was first lady, is that correct? >> she was first lady. edith is what she wanted us to call her. she was so excited about john kennedy and that presidency. she got to live to see it was, you know, wonderful. >> kerry fuller, we're here on the main level of the house, up one staircase from the entrance. where would you sleep when you were visiting here. >> upstairs.

only twice did i stay here for the night. there's a room between her room and the president's. there's two occasions. >> so three of you are left. is there any -- are you active in an edith wilson family at all? i mean is there any -- >> not so much with the family, but certainly with the wilson house and also with the birthplace so i'm involved with both of those, which is wonderful. >> kerry fuller of westchester, new york is here with us. upper northwest dc. and we want to thank bob inhome and his staff for allowing us to come in with the cameras and showing you a few of the artifacts here. >> thank you so much. she made it to john kennedy's inauguration? >> made it to 1961. she was going to dedicate the

woodrow wilson bridge that all of us who live in washington noel. she was going to dedicate it on his birthday. she was 89 and contracted pneumonia and she couldn't make it. she died on his birth date. >> woodrow wilson center that's active in this town, when did that get started. >> that gets started -- excuse me, that gets start in the 1960s -- i think it was authorized under kennedy. >> yeah. >> he -- he authorized the commission? >> right. >> and that it gets started -- the late 1960s. he was in the old smithsonian building. it was oddly enough the little reagan building. and there -- i think that's a very fitting memorial to wilson. it really does bring together scholars and policy makers. and wilson was no ivory tower.

he believed that scholarships, that learning should be brought to bear in public affairs. that was himself. i mean, this man took the lessons that he had learned, the insights that he'd gotten from the study of politics and put them in to practice. this is a man who got a chance to practice what he had been preaching all along. and i said this a number of times, people think it's hyperbole, it isn't. i don't know of any other career in american history or any other history that i can think of, that better justifies the study of politics as a preparation for the practice of politics than woodrow wilson's. >> in chill relsz, virginia, you're on the air? >> yes. yes. i'd like to make a comment. this woman, edith bolling wilson, is a appalachian woman. the first -- the first and only

appalachian woman to become first lady. and i wonder if the experts would be interested in commenting on her appalachian role as care giver and the fact she was a care giver for the president and on to his legacy and really might be responsible for a lot of the legacy that president wilson has in our national history? >> i don't know that being an appalachian woman made her stand out at that time in america. i think men and women to a certain degree are the principle care givers of family members. edith -- ellen came from rome,

georgia which might nickly be called appalachian also. she was interested in the appalachian mountain craft. she remodelled part of the white house, the president's room with quilts and hangings and fabricings. she set up a scholarship fund there in memory of her brother with her earnings that she got from her paintings. i kind of feel she was the one who focussed more on the appalachian 2345i chur or characterern more than edith did. >> as we finish up here, i want to frame her life. she met woodrow wilson just shortly after ellen died. he proposed very soon. she became first lady. very quickly, without much preparation for the role. how soon after that did he become ill? and then how well did she take care of him? >> well, she was president -- she was first lady to a functioning president about 4 1/2 years and she feels nurse

maid to a president another 4 1/2 years. >> then he lived for how long also incapacitated after he left the white house? >> that would include the time she was incapacitated. >> just under three years all together. >> he dies when? >> february 4th, 1924? >> and then how is he memorialized at his death in this city? was there a big public funeral? >> oh, yeah. it's really quite lovely. they had -- they -- edith, president coolidge offered at the capitol to have a state funeral. she declined. they had a service at the house. presided over by the presbytarian clergymen and the bishop, the washington bishop. edith is episcopalian. she did not change to be a presbytarian when she married him and he made no push for her to do that. the procession up massachusetts avenue to the cathedral. there's the interment there.

in those days, there wasn't too much in that cathedral. his tomb was moved up interestingly enough in the centennial year of his birth, 1956, up to -- then finished -- finished a principal part of the cathedral. so it's a -- it's a -- it's a lovely ceremony. and to me one of the nicest touches was that when the funeral was -- at the end of the service, a bugler played "taps." they had a hookup to arlington. they knew the exact moment so that the bu galler from arlington also played "taps". >> she lives how long after she died? >> 37 years. an extraordinarily long time. he dies in 1924 and she dies at 1961. >> what was her life like? >> she spent the rest of the

life being woodrow wilson's widow. she tried to interhis legacy. she chose the first biographer. she controlled the access to papers very, very closely. she controlled how his image was portrayed. she wrote her own memoir. as i said, with her own spin on it. she collaborated with darryl to make the movie about wilson. she really had the tight rein on what he feels allowed to do. but to me the most important thing that she did was she supported something that he had supported during his lifetime, the woodrow wilson commission, is it call? >> foundation? >> foundation. >> and they helped to create the united nations and they also collect these papers that arthur link and his team edited so there are 69 volumes of woodrow wilson's letters and other significant papers, many of the letters in the first ladies, even letters from mary peck. and i think that's -- that's her

biggest legacy. >> we have video that was film of francis cleveland and edith at a prince ton university. you tell us the story? >> i don't know the story about the them. at the bicentennial of prince ton, 200 years. they gathered all of the living first ladies together. and mrs. cleveland, who whuz much younger than grover cleveland had lived in prince ton. so she was there. and there was edith and that's truman. i don't know if eleanor roosevelt was there. they tried to have them all. but there's a president of president truman with these three first ladies. yeah. >> i know that ellen wilson had to entertain theodore roosevelt at an army-navy game when woodrow was president of prince ton. and she did contact frances cleveland for advice on how to entertain ex-presidents. >> did she go back to the white

house? >> who? >> edith. did she ever go back to the white house again? >> i don't know. >> with the kennedys. >> yeah. >> and i think with the roosevelts. >> one thing i thought was very interesting is that when fdr went to congress on september 8 the day after the bombing at pearl harbor, he invited edith wilson to come and sit in the gallery as she had sat in the gallery when wood row wilson called for war in the first world war. >> your question? >> i have a question here about the president's illness when edith was covering up or not letting the nation know about his illness, was she being investigated or did she commit a crime by doing this? >> i don't know that it was a crime. i think it was a big mistake. no, there was no congressional investigation. i mean, that -- christie mentioned the smelling committee sending the senators up to check

on him. that's as far as they are when they got with it. >> as we close out here, first of all, james m. wants to know about edith wilson's funeral in 1961 when she died. what was that like? >> i had no idea. was there anything special about it? >> the quiet people. she was buried with him in the cathedral. >> we talk about them, they were the first and only presidential couple to be married in the national cathedral in washington, d.c. those of you who went to europe to see many of the famous people. they got to one president and the first lady. that's it. so in the -- in the close of your book, i want to show a christie miller on screen so people can see the biography of two wives. ellen and edith, woodrow wilson's first ladies. if people can see the cover, i'm going to open it like i did the last time you had conclusions. e did wilson undeniably had an

impact on history. she took over after his stroke enabling him to remain in office. had he resigned in the u.s., he would have joined the league of nation. you write regardless of whether edith wilson had an effect on international relations, her actions changed constitutional law. her assumption of power for woodrow wilson's illness was well known on presidential suppression. this is the part i wanted to go to. edith wilson did not use the power of presidential spouse as constructively as she might have. she made no effort to model better notions between the races. her personal style did warm up woodrow's stern image in the public eye and the leadership in world war i, knitting, selling bonds, working in a canteen, provided a good role model for american women in wartime. so wrap a bow around all of this. what we shouldn't think about edith wilson's tenure in the

white house and the contributions to the role of first lady and to the country. >> i think as john suggested, unfortunately, her biggest contribution is what not to do, even as late as 1987, william sapphire was writing to nancy reagan writing a column that said to nancy reagan, don't you be an edith wilson. don't meddle in presidential politics. and i'm afraid tat that in some ways is her greatest legacy as first lady. >> what an interesting story tonight. thanks to both of you for being here and telling us about the two first ladies in woodrow wilson's life and the country's history. thanks. >> thank you. tor yield?

mr. cruz: well, i object. you asked for consent, and i object. mr. reid: the house deny add plan for health insurance. outside the house republican bubble, reaction was altogether different. the radical tea party plan to shut down the government, unless democrats dish it has been called the dumbest idea by one republican senator. it has been called a box can john, a morass from which the republicans will not escape.

it has been called dishonest by one republican senator and a suicide note by another republican senator. so, been called dishonest by one republican senator and a suicide note by another senator. the reviews are in. the ransom demanded is unworkable and unrealistic. president obama has been clear, any deal that defunds obama and the health care plan is dead on arrival in the senate. affordable care act has been the law of the land for four years now. we will work with reasonable republicans to approve this law. now we know there's anarchy underfoot. we're not going balance tea party anarchist who denies the fact that obama care is the law. we will not bow to tea party

anarchist who refuse to accept obama care to be constitutional. we will not bow to the tea party anarchists in the house and in the senate who ignored the fact that president obama was overwhelmingly re-elected a few months ago. what they failed to mention to the american people and to the senate and to the house, that 59% of americans either support the law and transformative according to a cnn poll. the vast majority of americans want congress to work to approve it, not to tear it down. according to a new cnbc poll,

they work to shut down the health care. the facts are the vast majority of american people are satisfied with obama care. obama care is the law of the land and will remain the law of the land as long as barack obama is the president of the united states and as long as i'm the senate majority leader. the backing of their radical allies in the senate postpones. this week, the united states senate will act as quickly as tea party republicans will allow. once the senate had acted, house republicans will face a choice to pass a clean continuing resolution or shut down the federal government. so the question, our extremist republicans really ready to shut down the government? time will only tell. but the world looks to america for leadership and this lack of respect for the rule of law truly the example we wish to set for oh eres?

-- others? are the republicans so intent on undermining president obama that they're willing to inflict damage to the public. america will know who to blame, republican fanatics in the house and the senate. i urge those republicans to listen to the more reasonable republican republica republicans and i read some of the commentary on how dumb they think it is. one republican senator said it's the dumbest idea they ever heard. two dozen senate republicans have spoken out about the fool hearty plan to drive the economy off of a cliff. two dozen. this thelma and louise style just failing to get the attention of the american public. they want to go right over the cliff. we don't want to go with them.

i'm glad to see more and more of my friends stepping up to speak sense to the truest element of their party. in "the new york times" it was written on saturday -- and i quote. speaker boehner trapped under the thumb of tea party anarchist called friday's vote to defund obama care a victory for common sense. she said, more like a triumph of nonsense, noncommon sense. a few reasonable republicans realize this for the sake of a victory would be another step to the death mill for the republican party. every one of the senators i read their comments to everyone listening, plus the 20 or so others i didn't mention to what they said. they're conservative people, conservative republicans.

they're just not radical. so mr. president, i say the house and senate republicans continue to die a reality. and risk america's economy. listen to the chorus all around you. listen to what they're saying. your conservative senate colleagues will urge you off of this reckless course. the largest group of chamber of commerce urged you off of the reckless course. mesh families are wary of the foolish fights and these ethical fights. i urge you off of the reckless course. on behalf of the democrats who long for the day for legislative cooperation, we did it stin stead of hostage taking, i personally urge you off of this reckless course. what remains to be seen is whether the republican colleagues on both sides of the capital are wise enough to listen. >> today senator ted cruz of texas getting a unanimous

consent request that the senate pass without amendment the house bill to fund the government through december and remove funding for the health care law. harry reid objected. senator cruz spoke 15 minutes outlining his position. his remarks are followed by mike wie of utah. >> the unanimous consent requests i put forward. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate agree to the motion to proceed. that no debate, amendments, or motion to the resolution be in order. that the resolution be read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table without any intervening action or debate. >> reserving the right to object. my friends get right to the point. i appreciate that. i understand that the junior

senator from texas has consent to pass the house resolution by consent without any amendments. i understand that. i said he should get right to the point. the house passed resolution as we know now would defund obama care, not only the administration of the program and all of the related benefits as well. that's untoward. second, debt prior toization language or what's been called the paint china first policy. this would leave us to default on our obligations to everyone else besides bondholders and social security. everyone from veterans to small businesses to federal employees, contractors, doctors, hospitals, medicare patients generally. to, mr. president, the president would veto the resolution so it's not going become law any way and i object.

>> objection is heard. >> the second unanimous request that i would put forward, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate agree to proceed to h.j. rez 59 and all points be waived. adoption of any amendments be subject to a 60 affirmative vote threshold and that upon disposition of all amendments, the resolution be read a third time and passed an and the motion to be reconsidered considered made and laid upon the table with any intervening action or debate. >> mr. president. >> is there an objection? >> reserving the right to object. mr. president, i again understand the senator from texas in his request which would create a new 60-vote hurdle where the senate rules do not require one at the present time. mr. president, i follow the senate rules. sometimes they're obnoxious. i wish they were different. i try my best.

in leading this to this difficult place sometimes. to live up to all of the rules. they live up to all of the hurdles. that's the way it's developed over the years. i understand that. sometimes senators like these, sometimes they don't. i guess that most would say senators have enough 60-vote hurdles. that the senate has enough of these really arbitrary hurdles as it is. don't add even more barrierles to getting things done. mr. president, we should be careful of adding new barriers. people travel the country. they know what the rules are and

how difficult they are. and i would bet the vast, vast majority of the senators, democrats and republicans, would like them changeled. the problem is, mr. president, we tried that recently. we were able to get a -- make a little headway. not a lot. most americans will add we work on ways to agree to work together rather than disagree. i almost would bet although i'm not a betting man, that most americans would rather avoid shutting down the government. mr. president, i nknow the sincerity of faith of the senator of texas, i disagree with him almost as sincerely as he disagrees with me. i don't take way from his sincerity. but having said that, i'm in a

position now to object. and i must do that. >> objection is heard. senator from texas. no -- >> i've been asked to do a brief consent request. >> happy to yield. >> i have one consent request per committee in today's session. i ask consent this request be agreed to and print in the record. >> objection? >> without objection? >> mr. president. >> senator from texas? >> i now ask unanimous consent i be allowed 20 minutes to speak? >> without objection. >> mr. president, these two unanimous consent requests have the virtue of being clarified -- clarifying what the debate is that the senate will face this week. and i'm going to suggest to you, mr. president, the senate has not faced a more important debate in the short time that

you and i have both served in this institution. no american wants a government shutdown. i don't want one, no one on this side of the aisle wants a government shutdown. the house of representatives doesn't want a government shutdown. five minutes ago, the senate could have acted to prevent a government shutdown. the request i promulgated to the majority leader was to pass the continuing resolution at the house of representatives passed and if that had happened, there would be no government shutdown. the government shutdown would be taken off of the table. the specter that you and i see on the television screen every day. the countdown clock that has started to appear will disappear. but the majority leader chose to object -- to object and to say no -- he would rather risk a government shutdown than act to prevent it. now why, again, the majority

leader was quite candid. because he supports the law called obama care. one of the pieces the default prevention act. the president of the united states has been doing a fair amount of public speaking raising the prospect of a default on our debt. and the house of representatives acted boldly to work on continuing resolution language that would say the united states would never ever ever default on its debt. that in the event the debt ceiling is not raised, we will always pay our debt first. i suspect every member of this body has spoken publicly about the calamity that would come from the default on the debt. it's quite revealing that the majority leader explicitly reference and objected to by name taking a default off of the table.

i think that's unfortunate. there's a tendency in this town towards brinksmanship. pointing to events that can use uncertainty and using them to get your way. i wish the majority leader would had been willing to step forward and say i agree number one, the government should be funded. we should not have a government shutdown. and number two, we should never ever ever even discuss a default on the debt. had the majority leader simply said, "i consent" a default on the debt would have been taken permanently off of the table. why didn't he? we all know why he did not. the majority leader embraces obama care. i'm going to suggest to you, mr. president, that this body a little over three years ago passed obama care. it passed it on a straight party line vote. and in the time since it's passed, america has learned that it's not working. the americans all over this country are suffering because of obama care, it's the single

biggest job killer in america. every day we're seeing more and more evidence that obama care is killing jobs, that it is hurting american workers that are struggling that it's causing people to be forcibly be put into part-time work 29 hours a week. it's jacking up the health insurance premiums and causing more and more people struggling to lose their health insurance all together. today, the new york times reported that because of obama care, quote, insurers are significantly limiting the choices of doctors and hospitals available to consumers. that's today in the newspaper. "usa today" reported on a new, quote, family glitch that could cause up to a half million children to go without insurance coverage. a headline in "the washington post" today read, quote, one week away, obama care's small business insurance exchanges not all ready for launch.

and even the labor unions. that once championed obama care, are now publicly decrying it as a threat to the 40-hour work week that's the backbone of the american middle class, that's in the words of organized labor. this law is hurting the american people. and it's it's why there's bipartisan consent outside of washington, d.c. we need to step up and stop it. that would be the responsible thing for senators on both sides of the aisle to do, to say the same rules should apply -- the hardworking american families that apply to big corporations and apply to members of congress. we've seen the president unilaterally put in place exceptions for giant corporations and members of congress. mr. president, i would submit hardworking american families deserve that same exception. so i think it's unfortunate they that the majority leader chose to object to continuing government to preventing a

shutdown, to taking a default off of the table. but i do think it is clarified to make clear as the majority leader just did that he is willing to risk a government shutdown. he's willing to force, even, a government shutdown, in order to insist that obama care is funded. and mr. president, that leads to the second unanimous consent request that i put forward. a simple request that every amendment this resolution be subject to 60 votes. everybody in this body knows that's not an unusual request in the united states senate. amendments in this body are routinely subjected to 60-vote thresholds. indeed, you and i will both recall a few months ago when this body was debating the issue of guns, the contentious issue, an emotional issue, an issue of great moment to this country. the majority leader agreed with

the minority that every single amendment on the floor would be subject to a 60-vote threshold. those are the terms under which every aspect of the gun debate was debated. i would note that one amendment that was submitted in the gun debate was the grassley-cruz amendment. it was the law enforcement amendment that put real teeth in going after felons and fugitives who tried to illegally buy guns to put real teeth into forcing states to report mental health reports so that we can prevent those with serious mental illnesses from illegally purchasing firearms. i would note, mr. president, that the grassleyz received the majority vote in this institution. a majority of senators voted for it, including nine democrats. it was the most comprehensive. it was the most bipartisan of the comprehensive gun legislation voted on in this body. and yet it did not pass into law

because the majority leader set a 60-vote threshold for every amendment. i would suggest that obama care is no less important. obama care is no less controversial. and obama care likewise should be subject to the same threshold. if the majority leader believes obama care is good for america, the democrats believe obama care is good for america, i would encourage this body, let's debate -- not the artificial sense in which we debate, one or two senators in an empty hall. but in a sense of making a case to each other and the american people, whether this law is working or whether it is not. because everywhere i travel in the state of texas and across the country, americans come to me and raise the single biggest challenge they're facing as obama care. it's killing their job, taking away health care. it isn't working. 3 1/2 years ago, obama care was

forced into law on a strict party line vote. by straight brute force. but it should be funded that way. that's not the way a government should proceed. that's not the way the institution should proceed. a 60-vote threshold does not require that a leader get a great many republican votes, but it does require he get a few. he cannot do it with only the votes in this body. this country will be better off if we work together to restore economic growth and to stop the incredible job loss coming from obama care. in fact, regarding a 60-vote threshold, here's what the learned majority leaders had to say, quote, for more than 200 years, the rules of the senate have protected the american people and rightfully so. the need to muster 60 votes in

order to term mate senate debate naturally frustrates the majority and oftentimes the minority. i'm sure it will frustrate me when i assume the office of minority leader in a few weeks. but i recognize this requirement as a tool that serves a long-time purpose in our senate and the american people. i agree with majority, senator reid. i think it makes us behave on a partisan matter but in a way that gets us together and get us to the challenges coming from obama care. i believe nothing is hurting the american people more. nothing is hurting the economy more. nothing is damaging jobs more, than obama care. given the majority leader's objection raised today, the path that the majority tends to go is now clear. it's clear for democrats, it's clear for republicans, it's

clear for the world to see. the majority leader has stated it is his intention to force a vote to fund obama care. and to to do so on 51 votes on a straight party line vote and all likelihood would be a straight party line vote. it's not a course of action. it's not a course of action that i think the republicans would act act withes to. if it's the intent to fund it with 51 votes, i would suggest that it's our obligation to prevent the majority leader from fund ohhing bama care with just 51 votes. any member of this body that vote

votes for cloture on this bill would be voting to allow obama care with 51 votes. the vote is at stake. that vote discerns our constituents and hurts the people of america. 232 members of the house of representatives came together and said explicitly, do not fund obama care. i would note that included two democrats who came together with their republicans in a bipartisan manner to say this law isn't working. maybe we thought it would work, but the facts, the evidence, have proved -- proven that it is not working. the senate should do likewise. the house acted last week because the house acted to the american people and i would suggest every member of this body should do the same thing. listen to the american people. because if we listen to the american people, we will, number one, keep the government running.

i wish the majority leader had agreed to my request to take a government shutdown off of the table by passing the house continuing resolution. if we had listened to the american people, we will, number two, take any default on the debt off of the table. i wish the majority leader had not objected to doing so right now. i wish the majority leader had not said he intends to continue to use the threat of a default. to engage in brinksmanship to force the vote on the american people. if we listen to the american people, we will recognize this law is not working. that is why big corporations asked for and received an exception. that is why members of congress asked for and received an exception. that is why unions have just recently come forward and asked for an exception. they have not yet been granted. but i'll venture a prediction

now. if we vote 51 votes for obama care, the union exemptions will not be far away. the job-killing subjects of obama care, not only members of congress, and in the near future, i predict not on union bosses, only on hardworking american families, on single moms, young people, and people struggling to climb the economic ladder. mr. president, i would suggest it's getting it exactly backwards. this body should not be granting special rules, special favors, for the ruling class, for those with power and privilege, we should be fighting for those who are struggling. and those are the people that get hurt the most by obama care. i believe this week will be a critical week for the united

states senate. for every one of us, i see the republicans and democrats standing together. understanding bipartisan differences, we have an obligation to the people of our states and obama care isn't working. so we're going step forward and recognize the simple reality -- that it's the biggest job killer in this country and we should not affirmatively fund it. mr. president, i yield the floor. >> on friday, a unified house republican conference sent a strong message to the american people. keep the government open and lets's protect the american people simultaneously from the harmful and potentially devastating effects of obama care. it's now time for the senate to act. we know the president's health care law is not ready to

implement. "the wall street journal" recently reported that the government software that runs the on-line insurance marketplaces known as exchanges simply are not ready. they can't reliably determine how much people need to pay for coverage. now, if in the face of the other effects of the law are not ready, many by the president's own admission. if the president goes ahead with this law anyway, we know that obama care would be implement in a manner that's manifestly unfair and likely to harm hardworking americans. big business, unions, and other special interests may well all receive special treatment under obama care while the rest of the country will be forced to obama care's unfair, unworkable, and fundamentally unsound system. we know that the laws are affordable. we know that it will be bad for

the economy. at a time when we are running annual deficits of $12 trillion, obama care will cost $2 trillion. it's causing employers to shed workers, cut back hours, and stop providing health insurance for employees. we know it's not going to work. the congressional budget office recently concluded that after ten years of obama care, 31 million americans will still lack health insurance. we understand that these are inconvenient facts for the president and for members of this body who still support this law. but those are the facts. and we have a responsibility to do something about it. how many more people will have to lose their jobs, wages, and health care benefits before congress acts? how many more states will have to announce the premiums that are going up before we do something to protect the

country? if the president won't act to protect the american people from this law and its harmful effects, congress should. and so last friday, a unified house -- republican house showed tremendous courage in enacting legislation. knowing full well what the media would say, what the president would say, and what democrats on both sides of the capitol would say, 228 republicans responded to the willf oh the american people. and overwhelmingly passed a bill that would fund government and protect the country from obama care. only one party has voted to fund the government. only one party has voted to avoid a shutdown. right now, the ball is in the senate's court. now, once the ball has reached the senate, as now has happened, the senate can respond in one of several ways.

basically, i see three options on the table. two of which are perfectly appropriate. one of which is unacceptable. but the first option would be for this body under the leadership of our majority leader to take up a vote on this bill, the house passed continuing resolution. the house continuing resolution that keeps government funded but defunds obama care and to give that an up or down vote. to vote on that bill as is. the second approach would be to open it up for an open amendment process. to allow us to debate, discuss, and consider amendments on the house passed bill. as each senator might consider. both of the first two options are appropriate. both are understandable and acceptable under the totality of the circles. some might lean toward the first

option, just moving quickly to consideration of the house passed bill and as is position even the fact that they are t minus seven days and a few hours until the existing continuing resolution expires. on midnight of the evening next monday night, we're just over 7 days before that expires. many of us suggest the best option is to take the first approach. for the senate to open this up for a vote in the house passed continuing resolution. if the house voted to have that amendment, it would need to be an open amendment office, it's appropriate for this body, a body that many have described as the world's greatest

deliberative body. it's great and deliberative if we want to continue this tradition, we need to have an open amendment process when the amendments are considered. the third option i referred to, the option i consider unacceptable would be an option in which the majority leader would use a procedural trick to allow the majority party to gut the house-passed continuing resolution, removing the single most significant provision without allowing consideration for one single amendment. this is not okay. pass it as is, pass or don't pass it or open up the amendment process so that all members of this body have the opportunity to introduce and vote on amendments as each individual senator deems appropriate. those are the only two exceptional options. it would not be if the majority

leader were to decide to use a procedural trick to allow one amendment, an amendment that would gut the house-passed continuing resolution and negate the single most distinguishing provision. now the question that leaves us, once this bill comes up in this body, will we, as united states senators be courageous? will we do the right thing for the american people? or will senate democrats threaten to shut down the government to protect an ill conceived unworkable, unaffordable and fundamentally unfair law. there's no doubt that many voices will say we can't win this fight. but i'm not so sure. two months ago, the same voices said that we could not and would not get this far. they said that this effort would amount to bad politics. they said this simply would not

work in the congress as it exists in 2013. they were wrong. nay were wrong because what was passed on friday is what the american people have been demanding overwhelmingly. they demanded congress act to keep the government open and functioning to protect the american people from the harmful and devastating effects of obama care. that's why i believe we can win. the senate majority may have the upper hand. but the american people will and almost must have the last word. >> senators began the first stage of consideration of the house continuing resolution on tuesday. senator majority leader reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the house bill on monday with a vote on that motion expected wednesday and a further procedural vote later in the week. it's expected that majority

leader reid will offer an amendment to strip out the part of the bill defunding the health care law. president obama is in new york city as he attends the u.n. general assembly. monday the president hosted a round table on promoting civil society around the world. his remarks are ten minutes. >> thank you very much. try this. thank you very much, everybody, for joining us here today. and i want to offer a few brief remarks in terms of the purpose ask of this meeting. we have a wonderful panel here. heads of state, members of civil society, people who have been working on these issues for a

very long time. the focus today is on civil society because it's my strong belief that the strength and success for all countries and all regions depends in part on protecting and supporting civil society. i want to thank deputy secretary general elijah. i want to thank my good friend, president elbigorg of an goal yeah representing the xmunty of democracies. i want to thank mexico representing civil society members of the open government partnership. and i want to thank all of you for joining us here today. the human progress has always been propelled at some level by what happens in civil society. citizens coming together to insist that a better life is possible. pushing their leaders to protect their rights and the dignities of all people. and that's why the universal

declaration of human rights states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. this is not a western value. this is a universal right. so a society led the fight and apartheid in south africa. it led the fight to bring freedom to eastern europe. it helped to heal places divided by conflict, cambodia and colombia. here in the united states, civil society is the catalyst of virtually every major advance that we've made, from the abolition of slavery to women's rights, civil rights. the protections of workers and the protections of the environment. and yet, still today in every region, we see that the fight goes on. citizens leading the charge to expand opportunity, correct injustices, to shape the country's futures.

and it's my belief that strong nations recognize the values of active citizens. they support and to power citizens rather than stand in the way, even if it's inconvenient or perhaps especially when it's inconvenient for government leaders. strong civil societies uphold human rights. they promote good governance by making governance more effective and holding leaders like me to account. and they're critical for economic development because of the global economy, trade and investment flows to countries that give the citizens the freedom to create and develop new ideas and that are protectled -- protectled by rule of law. many countries in this room are working in partnership with civil societies, an guolla, mexico, tanzania, they're working together to reduce the rule of law, reduce wasteful

spending, and strength and health and education. what they're seeing is a growing number of countries that are passing laws designed specifically to stifle civil society. they're forcing groups to register the governance, restricting ngos from accessing foreign funding, cracking down on communications technologies to connect civil society groups around the world. arellsed on false charges and some have been killed. we're seeing new and fragile democracies cracking down on civil society which i believe sets them back and sends a dangerous signal to other countries. so, in recent years, the international community have stepped up our support. two years ago, some of you recall we came together to launch the open partnership, to

launch effective and partnership with civil society. 60 countries and a broad coalition of civil society. the community of democracies is working to take aim at restrictive laws. the human rights council established the first special repertory on the rights of peaceful assembly and association. and several governments and foundations including many in this room contribute to a lifeline fund to society groups under threat. so i've made a point to meet with civil society worldwide virtually every foreign trip i take, i carve out time to meet with citizens who are active on a whole range of issues. and in part, it's to lift up the good work that they're doing and affirm that the united states stands behind their efforts. nevertheless, we have to recognize that the crackdown continues and we need to do more to increase global attention and spur global action. that's why we're here.

i'm challenging all of us to use the next 12 months to make progress in three key areas. first, we have to identify the specific steps to that country, including the united states, can take to make it easier for civil society to do its job and to encourage governments to embrace civil society groups as partners. number two -- we need to do more to stand against restrictions on civil society and better coordinate our diplomacy when the government tries to stifle civil society. i think it's krit dahl the international community should be working together to secure finances. we have to find a way to support civil society in difficult circumstances. governments that restrict civil society are ensuring their worst practicings. withe have to ensure our best practices and doing all we can to help civil society succeed. many of you know that i didn't

begin my career in -- in elective politics. i began working in low-income communities in chicago. i was elected as president through the active participation of citizens. and i know what active citizens can do. and the united states as one of our most precious gifts has been trying to set an example of how active citizens can make a country stronger. that makes us deeply committed to all people who are contributing to our nation's progress and their nation's progress and as the other countries crack down, we have to go at it together. going to be looking for specific actions, specific followup of stems. with that, i'd like to turn it over to the deputy secretary general for his remarks and make sure that the outstanding panel

has an opportunity to make their resolutions. >> fellow panelists. to your guests. ladies and gentlemen of the jury of france. thank you for taking this initiative to support civil society. the relation with the civil society and the community of light which is the basis of vitality of a democracy. also this initiative touches on the so much of the work that brings all of the leaders to new york this week. and the message i'm delivering here is on behalf of ban ki-moon who was impossible for him to leave this afternoon with the science of cloning isn't advanced enough. so the message is the following -- we're living in

turbulent times. the relationship between leaders and those they govern is changing. there are new demands, new expectations. there's new technology. but one act, one approach, one human phenomenon has to be at the heart of this relationship. and that is listening. they will hear from them in the streets, in the square, as we see far too often on the battlefield. there's a better way. more participation. more democracy, more engagement, more openness. this is the maximum space for civil society. it's a foundation for a healthy, responsive governor. civil society is crucial for human rights by with raising awareness and ring the alarm about abuse and it seems that

advancing the work of the united nations on the whole agenda. not only on human rights but for peace, security, as well as development. i would say that civil society has never been more in this center and more needed than it is today. that is why the growing predictions facing civil society as the president just outlined in country after country are so disturbing. legislation is often our target in civil society organizations making it practically impossible for them to operate. the laws and the human rights offenders. seeing new ways to impede their work by sometimes overreaching anti-terrorist and national security legislation. it's relating to defferals and legislation. morals requiring the funding

over the association. and new rules restricting internet access. the assault on human rights defenders and civil society groups is sometimes matched with outright attacks in different forms. smear campaigns, travel, harassment and intimidation, illegal detection, sometimes even torture and death. the intimidation against people who cooperate with the united nations and is unacceptable. not only because they've helped us as i've seen myself all over the world do the work that we're mandated to do that we're in touch with them to declare them by human rights. and it also scares others from working with us and for us. we must take action that every level to strengthen the voice of democra democracy. i would hope leaders and others in positions of influence that

they publicly or systematically condemn acts of reprisal and intimidation. i welcome on going discussions to ensure a strong system of response and reprisals. there should be impartial litigation to bring perpetrators to justice and remedies for victims. and, of course, we must reenforce the indispensable role in protecting all aspects of human rights including rights of freedom of association and assembl assembly. mr. president, ladies and gentlemen, in closing, people in society groups often risk their lives to improve the lives of others. they seek out even when they know they could be silenced forever. they highlight problems that others ignore, and might not even think exists. they seek and they connect with like-minded people across the

world. but we all know that far too often, they are left at times to feel all alone. we must never -- we must never dessert or forget them. they protect our rights. they serve our rights. all of us have the responsibility to protect human rights for them to advocate for them. when that does not happen, all of us have the obligation to stand up and speak out. you have provided us with the opportunity to do that, mr. president, let us do that today and every day. >> vice president biden travelled to colorado to view damage from recent flooding and survey recovery efforts. he assured the colorado residents that a potential government shutdown would not impact a disaster relief aid. his remarks are about ten minutes. >> well, i wish i were not here

under these circumstances. but i want to start off by thanking the governor for the tour today and for the colorado national guard. i'm joined by representative polis, kauffman, gardner, and my good buddy, michael bennett. and i just want to say to them that you've been incredibly responsive and thanks for allowing me to come out and take a look. also, the mayor bevins is here and the county commissioner as well. i want to thank them for their so incredibly responsive. folks, look. we're in the air about an hour. touring the devastation and it is devastation. the stories that i've heard in here and from the gentleman standing behind me about the sacrifices individuals made, about the sense of community,

about how people pull together, is pretty amazing. but not at all surprising. not at all surprising. now i want to thank, by the way, all of the fema group and all of the red cross, all of the people here, and one of the things i want saying to craig fugate, the director of fema, you know, i've been doing this for a long time. visited a lot of disaster sites in my career. and the difference between fema today as opposed to fema five, six, seven years ago -- and they were good then. but the difference is, you walk in here and it's one-stop shopping. you have a group of people inside and in the other centers around this state that are looking to find an answer for yo you. they're not giving you a telephone number. they're not saying if you need this help, call this number. they're saying walk three chairs

down to the table at the end of the table and we'll get this done for you. and, governor, the way you've been on top of this from the outset is remarkable. when president obama issued the disaster declaration for the state, as you all know, that provided additional assistance. everything from cleaning up debris, to helping people with their housing costs, to poots on the ground that are providing technical assistance and helping the search and rescue. the good news i heard today, the number of unaccounted folks -- correct me if i'm wrong, senator, down to six, s-i-x. so things are moving, things are moving in the right direction. fema is able to provide temporary housing, home repair, that's not covered by your insurance, medical expenses, transportation needs, moving, storage, other support for those directly impacted. you can talk to fema representative at any of the 14 shelters that are currently established here. they can help you figure out

what kind of assistance you're eligible for. the thing i find most often visiting disaster sites -- first of all, people are absolutely devastated. they cannot believe everything that they have literally has been washed away. and the last thing they need is to be confronted with the group of alphabet agencies that are going to, in fact, tell them you can do, a, b, or c -- this idea of not only providing help but giving them comfort, giving them comfort, putting them in a zone that they know everybody inside the building and others are there to help them. you can get assistance -- those watching on television, you can get assistance at fema.com or by calling the help line. the number is 800-621-3362. that number is 800-621-3361 2.

and there will be someone on the other end of the line that will walk you through your needs. you tell them what your problem is. tell them what you lost. and then we'll find a way through the maze for you. there is help. the department of transportation was here, the federal highway administration and working cloelgsly with federal, state, and local agencies to assess the damage and help to restore essential traffic and minute mitz further damages. one of the thingings i found most fascinating and devastating in the helicopter ride, is that so many small communities that are literally isolated, isolated on one side of a stream or one side of what now is a raging river. with no physical possibility of crossing that stream or the way it's raging right now.

it's not raging in a comparable sense, but a lot depper and a lot more rapid than it -- than it usually my folks can't make it across on to a road. the number of highways should have been washed away completely, and the county and city roads that have washed out as well. so there's the ability -- there's moneys available to help both the federal highway system as well as the local highway system. to date, there's been $35 million approved to repair and reconstruction of roads and bridges. that's not going to be enough. but it's going to continue to kwortnate the critical infrastructure needs. we talked about the needs for bridges, bridges right now to get agricultural products to market so everything is not lost. all of this is under way. quite frankly, i expected to see

it worse than i have in a matter of just slightly over a week, the progress and maid thus far is pretty remarkable. i want to keep working with the governor on long-term strategy rebuilds and get people back to their homes. once all these come together and gone, once all of the news conferences were over. fema and the red cross are still going to be here until we make you whole. until we make it right for you. and i want you to know, if there's now a lot of you who will be listenings to this broadcast will hear probably on the national news about the potential for a government shutdown. probably going to be the living devil out of you. there's reason to be scared but not in terms of disaster relief.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> next here on c-span, our first lady series features allen and edith wilson, the wives of our 28 president, woodrow wilson. then we will look at the budget battle in congress. that is followed by a senate hearing on combating human trafficking. >> this is the woodrow wilson house in washington dc the home of our 20th president and first lady edith wilson. after they left the white house in 1921. you will be seeing more of it over the next two hours as we tell the story of the two wills and administrations first ladies, allen and edith.

>> allen and woodrow met in their 20s and their love for each other was reflected in passionate letters. guide his career from academia to politics, he set an example for future first ladies, ellen wilson died just a year and half into the president's term. soon meting president washington businesswoman edith galt. they married after a secret courtship and edith wilson served as first lady for more than five years. in unprecedented role managing the president's affairs after he suffered a stroke remains are the most controversial efforts of any first lady. tonight, the story of the wilson administrations to first ladies, ellen and edith. we have two traffic deaths here to tell you about these two interesting women and the times in which they lived. book is allen and edith,

woodrow wilson's first ladies. john mills cooper is woodrow wilson's biographer. thanks for being with us. we have been telling the stories chronologically, but everybody knows about edith wilson managing the white house as it her husband after suffers a stroke. we will tell that story first because so many people really want to know what happened. withcooper, let me start you. when in his it ministration did he suffered a stroke. theore than halfway through second term. it was october 1919. here just returned from a whirlwind speaking tour. he was tried to sell the country on ratifying the peace treaty and going into the league of nations. he had really worn himself out on that and his doctors actually aborted the tour and got him back to the white house. after about five days in the white house he suffered a massive stroke third >> the story of the stroke night itself is very dramatic or it can you tell us recently what happened that night? there are some conflicting

reports about what happened, but i think that the most accurate portrayal is that he got up in the morning, edith had been going into check on him during the night and she found him slumped to the floor and couldn't move his left side. she went out into the corridor and used a telephone that did not go through the switchboard. she did not want to have this universally known. she asked the chief usher to call the doctor from this other phone. the doctor came in and they helped him into bed, but he was paralyzed on his left side. >> a character that is going to be a big part of the story is kerry greeson. the doctor.eson is here been inside the white house first under the taft administration and then shortly, taft introduced him to his successor wilson and pretty soon

, wilsone inauguration sister fell down and grace and treated her and did a good job treated her and did a good job. and he was a virginian which went a long way with the wilson's. he was the white house physician. he was the one who treats him. they called in various consultant specialists, but grayson was the one who treated wilson. >> what was the extent of his condition? how badly had the stroke affected him? >> he had a blockage in an artery leading to his brain and this is usually not a fatal stroke, but it did immobilize him for a while. he probably would have recovered 10rly rapidly had he not

days later suffered a second medical condition. he had prostate trouble and he had a urinary tract infection with a very high fever. of course they didn't have antibiotics at that time, they debated whether to operate, but the specialist felt that to operate on a 52-year-old man with high blood pressure and a stroke would have been very unwise. so they just decided to let nature take its course and eventually he recovered, but it really sapped his vitality. this one-two punch really did him in for about a month. christie is free to agree or disagree, but i think the worst effect of the stroke on wilson was really on his emotional balance. his judgment also. his intellect wasn't impaired and his speech was an impaired. yes some he could function that way, but so much more goes into being a leader and the president

then just being smart and being able to do these things. becausething is, partly of that other illness that you just talked about, christie, they isolated him. that is when you're supposed to keep away from stress. now they know it is exactly the wrong thing to do. what you want to do with the person who is had a stroke is get them into social interaction . with the best of intentions they were doing exactly the wrong thing. >> dr. grayson's letters are part of the collection at the woodrow wilson library at stanford about two hours from washington. togetherg this program , we will learn more about wilson threw grayson's letters. >> we have a letter in this box whohenry morgan sthau

wanted to write about experiences. so he was asking grayson if he could use certain information. the information you gave me about president wilson and you're having come to the conclusion that he should resign and how he was influenced by mrs. wilson to give up this plan. so mrs. wilson was very concerned that her husband would not get better if he did not have something to engage his mind, that he would just deteriorate if he was forced out of the presidency. was ill,sident wilson it has been speculated wildly among historians -- speculated widely among historians. we have one document here that sheds a little bit of light on that. it is a telegram from henry morgenthau who was the

ambassador to turkey and he is writing to dr. carey grayson asking if the president has any objection to a citizens meeting to protest against turks being left in control of constantinople. and morgan saw has been asked to speak at this meeting -- and enthau has been asked to speak at this meeting. at the bottom of this telegram is edith's handwriting. we are familiar enough with her handwriting to recognize it as such. at the bottom she writes, thinks it well to postpone speaking on such subjects. did youdon't know is, just take this telegram into wilson, ask his opinion and then write that or did she just come to that conclusion herself. the public was very interested and curious to know the condition of wilson's health.

rumors were rampant in the didn't even congressmen know what was going on. they only knew what they read in the papers. , careyt was all over grayson later wrote a summary of what happened from the time of the stroke until wilson left the white house. the decisionage -- was made to announce that wilson was suffering from nervous exhaustion. there were no other details given as to what was wrong with him. really no one knew the extent of his illness. he really was not capable of doing anything. dr. grayson thought it wise to issue general statements only. further, mrs. wilson, the president's wife, was absolutely opposed to any other course. she did not want it to be known that he was really suffering. again, she was protecting her husband and she wanted him to be

able to fulfill his duties as president. she was worried about his legacy. ultimately, she was concerned about his health and she felt that if you left the presidency, left the white house, he would die. >> te away and i >> so how did they react? >> a couple of different ways. robert lansing who was the secretary of state and would have been fired if wilson hadn't been a stroke, there had bad break, that is another story. but lansing tried to get the cabinet in on it and i think he even made some communications with the vice president, who stayed out of it completely.

he simply said no. greeted in the constitution. this is before the 25th amendment actually is not as much of a protection as we think in cases of inability. won't talk about disability this is the inability of the president to do his duties. what does that mean? this means if he were dead the vice president succeeds. this is the one time that we really had a disabled president. how do you deal with it? edith was scared. this was a very scary thing. make it up as you go along. welsh says, david what part of personality or intellect prepared mrs. wilson to take over during his recovery? what skills did she bring to this responsibility she was taking on? >> that is a very good question because she had exactly two years of formal schooling and her whole entire life.

she came from a large family and had been chosen by her grandmother to take care of her, to be her caregiver. her grandmother was a very opinionated woman and taught edith, basically, that it was good to have opinions and to make decisions. edith had been widowed relatively young and had inherited gault's jewelers which was like the tiffany's of washington. so she kept the jewelry store and had a manager who made a lot of the decisions, but she was used to having everything her way. decidedrought this very personality. in addition, woodrow had courted her by showing her a lot of secret papers. henry kissinger used to say that power was the ultimate aphrodisiac. i think woodrow wilson would have agreed. toe was using this entree

the secret papers as part of his court ship pier and she was susceptible to that and so he shared a great deal of what he was doing, really a great deal of what he was doing, with her. that sheohn said probably knew as well as anyone what he was doing and what he was thinking because he was a real lone wolf when it came to being a president. he did not have a lot of close advisers. >> that is true. >> this is from edith wilson herself. they published her memoirs. in this big controversy about how much power she took upon herself. here's what she said or did "i myself met never made a single decision regarding the disposition of public affairs. today we know, the gatekeeper to the president is really the most

important job heard >> he or she controls accent to the president is in some regards president. as she said, it is not just who got to see him, they pretty much embargoed well for well over a month. no one got to see him. but also what the president gets to see. she would decide what was best for him to see and what not. the raps on edith in this was that she was putting her husband's health ahead of the good of the country and that somehow the priorities were wrong there. well, i don't think that is entirely why she did what she did. she knew what he wanted. if he couldn't express himself, she knew he would not want to resign. he would want to hang onto this. as christy said, she knew his mind better than anybody else. if anybody was going to access a substitute -- if anyone was going to act as a substitute, . >> thethe best hear

secretary of state got lakhdar the cabinet members very thickly. wilson's secretary plus the loyalists like eaker and daniels in the cabinet but a kibosh on that very quickly. senators who two were detailed to come in and assess the condition of wilson because it came out when lansing went up to capitol hill that he hadn't spoken to the president about a very volatile situation in mexico. they deputized one democrat and one republican and edith and dr. grayson really stage-managed that very well. accounts differ on exactly what they did, but whatever it was him it was enormously theessful, including

republican who would have been most anxious to show that there was something wrong with wilson, set to the press afterwards that the president grasped his hand with both of his. but that was impossible because a president could not move his left hand. but he was so taken with his apparent animation. he made a lot of jokes, because that part of his thinking came back for quickly. he loved to make puns and he loved to tell jokes and stories. that came back relatively quickly. but as john said, the judgment was really what took a hit. >> we have a timeline of the president's incapacitation. as john cooper told us it was 19.ember of 19 1920 when hech of left the house for the first time. by the way, we have to talk about all of the political intrigue and important decisions going on in the aftermath of world war i.

his beloved league of nations was rejected by the senate at that time for the first time. in april of 1920 the president had his first cabinet meeting, eight months not meeting with the cabinet. it is almost unthinkable. how could the cabinet continue? >> i routine. and also, wilson was a great delegator. except in foreign affairs. other than that, he gave his cabinet secretaries lots of leeway. so they were used to running things on their own. it is just very lucky and maybe something of a tribute to that that the government function as well as it did. not all that well, but it did keep going. >> there is a story about edith. all during that time, what really was her role? >> i think one aspect of her role that was overlooked is the extent to which she tried to make woodrow give way on some of his intransigence about the league of nations. , which is fanciful

in places, she says that she asked him leads to compromise with the republicans in congress to try to get the treaty passed with the league of nations. she said that he turned to her and said, little girl, don't you desert me to. foot nine.ut five that shein her book never try to change his mind again. but, we have evidence that there were at least two other occasions on which she did try to change his mind. staff hads chief of discussed some of the places where they hoped woodrow could give a little ground and where the republicans could give a little ground and they hoped to find some compromise. she took some notes very hurried, almost shorthand notes of what is obviously a speech that she was going to give to

up saying andund for the sake of the country and the peace of the world, please consider this. it didn't work, apparently, because he didn't change. she was not a woman to take notes on something and not do something about it. a little bit later, she had some conversations with ray standard baker who is very close to wilson and later became his official biographer. he gave edith some suggestions, again, some talking points, to try to get wilson to change his mind. but he didn't and by the time he refused, by that time the republicans were also heartening their line. some of the hardliners were reeling in the republican leadership. facebook asks if edith ever spoke out publicly on the league of nations.

>> she did not speak out on anything. this is again to correct a big misperception of edith. i do not think she was at all power-hungry for herself. she wanted what her husband wanted. his agenda was her agenda. she used to say to people, i never make speeches. i think she made a few, years after woodrow died, but during the time he was in the white house, she was asked to present something innocuous like a bouquet of flowers to the girl scouts and she said i'd like to make a speech, but i never have and i won't. she did not even approve of voting for women. or women's suffrage. >> let's go back in time, but before we goes up the section to reviewers, we thought you'd all want to get this out because it is such an interesting aspect historically. what is the bottom line of this. in american history? how did it affect how we view the role of the president, the

role of the first lady and the constitutional issues? >> the role of the president, i mean, woodrow follows theodore roosevelt and these two together acting one after the other, made the president the center of the government, the active part. and even presidents later such as calvin coolidge, especially, who wanted to retreat to the sidelines, couldn't do it trade that is what really changed their. the first lady role probably in think ellen had more to do than edith did. becauseis a great segue we are now moving into the ellen story. >> tonight is a special two-hour program because we have to first ladies to talk about.

our lines will be open and you can reach us if you live in eastover central time zone. you can be part of the facebook conversation, go to c-span on facebook and finally you can tweet us using at first ladies and be part of the conversation. we're going to roll back the clock and talk about the long marriage of woodrow wilson to his first wife ellen. to sit the stage for that we're going to visit the wilson house. it is available for you to visit if you come to the nations capital. inside right now in the drawing room is peter. with law and home who is the executive director of the house. this is a house where president and edith wilson lift post- presidency. how did they acquire this house? >> they moved here literally the

day they left the white house in 1921. this home cost $150,000 and they managed to scrape together the money i assembling both president wilson's winnings as the nobel peace prize winner and also donations from canada's wealthy friends and political supporters. >> edith wilson lived here until her death in 1961. that is 40 years. also them expired in this home. in 1924 for president wilson. although it is edith wilson's house a mother is the presence of ellen wilson, isn't there? wilsonry at the woodrow house to remember the president's years which include ellenirst ladies, both wilson and edith wilson. it is important when you are considering figures in history to remember that they had childhoods and experiences that led them to the places that they were. >> so what are we looking at here? >> this is a painting painted by

ellen wilson who was a painter of considerable talent. even as a young girl she knew that she was a good painter and enjoyed it. it is interesting that when president wilson proposed marriage to her she said yes, but i'd like to go to the art students league in new york, which is where she went to school for a year before they were wed. it is interesting that president wilson at that point in his life accepted that and married this woman who was independent and really laid the groundwork for and understand during of the role of women in society. his last wishes included the wish that this painting hang over his casket before he was laid to rest at the national cemetery. >> we are about a mile from the white house. we will show you some more a little bit later. >> thanks so much. inth was born in georgia 1860. .ell us about her early life

>> her father was a presbyterian minister and he served in the civil war, but he had to leave because of some stress-related conditions. died in a mental institution, possibly a suicide. to heras very close mother, but her mother died in childbirth with her fourth child when she was 43. so ellen really had to take over herfamily, first after mother's death she had to take care of her father and then after her father's death she had to take care of her brothers and sister. so she became a very competent manager. she was very well educated for a woman of her time and place. she would have gone to college if she had had the money. when her father died she had the money to go to the art students league in new york for one year.

she was very unsure that she would ever meet a man who could be her intellectual equal which she felt was necessary for her marriage. in fact, she had plans to open up a boarding house for women and supported with her artwork and people around town started calling her belly the manhater because she was so clearly not going to be satisfied with anyone in the town. but then woodrow wilson came to town. he was a lawyer at the time, he had a case, he went to church where her father was preaching and he met her there. >> how important was it that both alan axon and thomas woodrow wilson, with the children of ministers? >> in some ways that is the world they grew up in. not so much the u.s. of the south, but the presbyterian church which in many ways is a world unto itself. though,didn't make them either of them, and i think this is true of wilson as much as it

it didn't make them religious zealots. it did not make them obsessed with religion. in some ways, religion was so central to them that in many ways they could take it for granted. it is in the background. it is always there, it is important, but the two of them -- but of the two of them, he was more the good strong believer. she is the one who had the religious doubts. especially because with the various family troubles depression ran really ran in the axon family. whoably one brother, eddie, died in a tragic accident as a young man, was about the only one who wasn't touched with depression. -- in some ways metaphysically and philosophically she was more curious than wilson was. wilson was much more interested in the affairs of the world, but religion is a background. >> he was interested in the affairs of the world, but he is so easily smitten with women.

he falls. and this is an important of his personality. he knew instantly that he loved this woman. women have played an important part throughout his biography. what do you understand about women and his psychology and the role that they play with him? >> i wish i could say that he was a man who -- of great enlightenment and forward- looking views. he wasn't. he wasn't bad though by the standards of that time, he really comes off pretty well as having, believing strongly that women are very bright and very capable. generally, i think he still likes the subordinate role. basically, he just liked women and more so than men of that time he enjoyed the company of men very much, but he just generally enjoy the company of women and he enjoyed their

intellectual companionship heard >> but he is so passionate. he is very passionate and very eloquent and so when you marry those two traits and the letters that he wrote to ellen after they were engaged, they are just the most astonishing love letters you will ever see. eloquent, too.te >> some of the love letters of ellen arelson to preserved at princeton university's manuscript library. we are going to learn about them next. >> here on the shelves are the correspondence between woodrow and eleanor. they are love letters. it has to be the largest collection of love letters exchanged between any present and future first lady. these letters were sealed. when the woodrow wilson family it is athey were sealed. time capsule shedding

extraordinary life on the wilson's life together. woodrow is living in baltimore going to john thompson's. in 1894.to ellen when you come into my study, stitches me as i sit at my desk. it is odd how this attachment of viewers to me seems part of the force of my mind. my darling, i trust it is not wrong to worship you as i do. you are the presiding genius of both my mind and heart. , this thet fact happiness and strength of your woodrow. i think we see the extent to which woodrow wilson not only loved ellen, but acknowledged in a very clear way his intellectual debt to her. in how many cases can you say that the first lady and her husband, that he is stepping forward and saying i acknowledge that you are the source not only

of my happiness but of my intellectual development? you introduced me to literature, to wordsworth, to browning. they would sit together on the campus and read wordsworth together sitting in the grass. profoundledged that role that ellen plays in his life. i thank youcan dearest for the sweet things that you say in today's letter. how happy it makes me that you think such things as me, even when i feel with a heart ache how sadly unworthy i am of it all. i too trust it is not wrong to worship you as i do. i had as well question that it be wrong to breathe. for i am in every breath altogether your own ellen. respond todoesn't them quite as passionately as he writes to her because she does tend to be a bit melancholy.

but in this is an exuberance that is really delightful. , you was so devoted to him sense net l she puts herself second to his needs again and again throughout their life together. she is serving him and helping him. that was her conception of what her role was as woodrow wilson's wife. as she is dying in the white ,ouse, that tragic summer august 1914 with the world about to enter into great international convulsion with world war i about to break out, she is dying in the white house and she grabs the hand of dr. grayson and whispers to him, dr., if i go away, promise me that you will take good care of my husband. >> it might be hard to answer are listener, but on visitor ranks asked us where we would rank them on the loves

of presidential couples. >> it seems to me it would be hard to come up to their level. as john cooper pointed out to me in arthurnight, lying links collection of woodrow wilson's letters. >> arthur linked was the greatest will surge -- was the greatest wilson scholar there ever was. volume that covers august 1914 and ellen's death, the editors, here it is, this is the introduction of this very stately monumental scholarly thing, with the editors bid a fond farewell to ellen wilson, whom we have all come to love. that is over the years that it had affected them so much. asked her tolson marry him just five minutes after he met her. when?ot married

>> they got married two years later. woodrow had a great strategy. beforehad a girlfriend and she had refused his offer of marriage and so i think he was once burned twice shy. so he had decided that he was going to propose to ellen just before getting on the train to go to baltimore and attend johns hopkins in political science. so that if she refused him, there would be no awkward lingering as he later said. so they had met each other by chance in this town where neither of them lived. they were just passing through and he persuaded her to stay for a couple of extra days and meet his family. when she -- when he proposed to her, she was so startled that she blurted out yes. she had meant to, but she blurted this out and they had hardly known each other. but he was going off to study for two years, so they had a theyear engagement, since

didn't know each other very well, it was the marvelous letters through which they isame intimate. >> mary kay watching us in san rafael california. you are on the air. thank you so much for the series. i was wondering what the first lady and president thought of the pickets in front of the white house for suffrage in 1917. >> this would be back to edith. ,hey were very indignant especially edith was very indignant. she thought they were rude and at one point woodrow offered to send -- to have them come into the white house and get warm and have half -- and have hot coffee and they were -- and they refused. didid not believe -- she not believe in suffrage for women and thought all this was quite foolish. there were two suffrage

organizations and one of them was trying to go about amending the constitution in a state-by- other words have suffrage passed in the various states and then get more people in congress to support it. members ofeives the the national association of women suffrage -- national american woman suffrage association, and some people believe it was the extremism of the national women's party that allowed the more conservative group to make progress because they were seen as a lot less threatening. >> we are going to come back to his early years with ellen and his wife before politics. he is the only president who moved from the presidency of the university into politics and to the white house. princeton andt to

how does he get to the presidency? >> first of all he was a presbyterian minister son and princeton had sort of severed its official ties with the church, but it was still a very presbyterian school. ,f you are a bright young man princeton was a place to go. he wanted to step out from the south, to. he went to hopkins briefly, his first teaching job was at bryn new college for women. he actually like teaching there. he liked the women at bryn mawr better than ellen did. she objected to the modern woman that he did. he got back to princeton in 1890, became the most popular professor there. basically, he was one of two real stars of the faculty. there was some intrigue among the trustees and everything to

get him to the presidency, that he got chosen president in 1902. then he tried to reform princeton and succeeded a bit and failed quite a bit and really got stymied when the new jersey bosses came along and offered him the nomination for the governorship heard he took it from them and then turned on them immediately and became a reformer. a lot of things made him a front runner quite early, so he made a remarkable transition. in two years he went from being to beingity president president. the governorship was just a small interlude. wilson is one of those people of a lock,ception who succeeded in everything he did. he is one of the great lyrical scientists. he was a great scholar, a great university president. he was the best-known and most effective university president of his time. he is ranked among the best

governors and he was one heck of an effective president, two. >> we love the interconnections here. grover cleveland after he left the white house went to princeton to practice law because it was difficult for a former president to do much else. is it true that the families knew each other and that the children even played together? >> i don't know about the children playing together but i do know that they knew each other. >> we are going to show your prospect house which was the house at the wilson's lived in on the time that the presidents house. today is use for social functions. as we look at it we are going to learn about ellen and woodrow wilson's political partnership and how that develops. is the study of prospect house and it looks very much as it did when woodrow and ellen wilson lived here. this would have been woodrow wilson's office. his desk would've been right here and here he would have met with students, faculty, university presidents, visiting people from across the world.

it is here that he and ellen might've met to confer about university business. ellen wilson was highly involved with woodrow wilson's career. she gives him advice on what jobs he should take, what jobs he shouldn't take. when he was up for a post at arkansas industrial university she suggested that was a bad career move. she was very involved and a tremendous help to him. behind-the-scenes him throughout his academic career. i find this room, this study so evocative because it is right here that we can see woodrow wilson making that transition from academic figure two political figure. ellen wilson helped with all of this. constantly advising woodrow, helping them out and then he decides to run for governor and the reporters descend on prospect. it reporters descend on his study. in the interview him right here in this room. they photograph him in the garden and ellen wilson is quite alarmed. she begins to sense that she is going to lose any privacy she

might've had. she is going to lose that carefully constructed, very close-knit home life that she had valued so much with woodrow. that is going to slip away when they plunge into politics. so they moved into prospect house, the young academic couple full of dreams, full of ambitions when she leaves prospect house. they are almost driven out by the trustees in 1910. when she leaves, she is better, she is exhausted and what awaits her is the political life's to check a tremendous toll on her, personally, in terms of her exhaustion, in terms of her energy, and psychologically. >> as his supportive spouse, how did her responsibilities change as she moved from university presidents wife to the first lady of new jersey and then ultimately into the white house? >> she was building on each of

the things that she had done before. she had been involved in the small way with social outreach during the time that she was a private person. then when she became first lady of new jersey, she became very interested in social welfare. she actually took woodrow on a tour to new jersey to look at state welfare institutions like the home for the insane were the prisons. she had an early record of activism among social welfare groups. she also had to do a great deal of entertaining during the dinner that was given after woodrow wilson's inauguration in 1902. she invited booker t. washington to the horror of her seven and -- of her southern aunt. she had a great deal of entertaining to do as the presidents wife, more of course

when she moved into the governor's mansion. at one point they were down in the summer home, they didn't have a governor's mansion, but the state of new jersey supplied a summer home. a little boy got lost and wandered into the house and came out afterwards and was asked if he met the governor. he said yes and she did me a piece of cake. >> what was her role in 1912? >> i don't think she did enough in the campaign. crexendo's interesting about the campaign was that she was, i believe, the first future first lady to go on a campaign before the convention. she and wilson went down to the south, especially in georgia where she was hailed as much as he was. unfortunately, they lost georgia. they didn't get the delegates from georgia. she had a hand in trying to get woodrow to patch up relations

with williams jennings bryan to head three times in the democratic nominee. he was kind of the leader of the and he was very keen on helping woodrow get the nomination. >> she saw an opportunity. wilson had come from a different wing of the party. he had said some things about bryant that some of his enemies had publicized to try to make for it she saw a chance to mend fences. she brought them together and they hit it off very well. brian and wilson had a good relationship down to some things in world war i. she is playing the same kind of role that she played in his academic career heard a very shrewd tactician, a very good facilitator. not out in front or in public, she didn't particularly like that role, either. but she was awfully shrewd.

>> theodore roosevelt's challenge to his own party by forming the bull moose party that split the republicans and helped bring woodrow wilson into the white house. hisou have to capitalize political philosophy, what would you say it is? he called himself a protective -- a progressive democrat. a government that made it possible for people to do things for themselves. he said i don't want a government that will take care of me, i want a government that will make sure that other people take their hands off me to that i can take care of myself. updated liberalism. is the individual's happiness, the individual self-realization. that is a great contrast with you to roosevelt. that campaign of 19 12 as the best we've ever had by far. what you get is really a debate

of political philosophies between these two men. >> lee is watching us from durango, colorado. thank you for taking my call. about the billon that was so important to ellen wilson and did such a wonderful thing for the city of washington dc. i would like to comment on youth wilson. she was more of a hindrance than a help. joseph thomas c, a major advisor numerousesident wrote letters during his illness and they were discovered unopened until after her death. >> thank you so much for your call. she asks about allen's alley bill. >> when they came to the white house, ellen felt that as long as she was in the white house,

not a place for she particularly wanted to be, she would use her position to do as much good as she could. she connected with a group called the national civic federation that had been around for 10 years or so. they were very interested in trying to clean up these little alleyways in between the bigger streets of washington where there were tumbledown shacks, great squalor heard they wanted to tear down all these buildings and do what we would now call urban renewal. then was so interested in is project that you took some of the congressman any white house car through the alleyways to show them the conditions of these houses that were right in the capital. she lobbied them to pass a bill that would enable this because at that time washington was run by congress. they didn't have their own government.

she was i think the first lady to lobby for a cause that wasn't her husband's, outside of the white house. she was very effective at doing this. i don't know if you want to talk about all of what happens here -- >> we will come back to the story because it is connected with her passing. wilson decides not to have an inaugural ball, why is that? >> it was partly because of ellen. ellen thought it would really be a commercialization, something frivolous. it should be a solemn occasion. she was a very thrifty woman. woodrow did not make a lot of early days and she had a habit of frugality. somebody once said mrs. wilson looks sweeter every year in that brown dress -- and that brown dress she wears looks sweeter as well. she prided herself on being thrifty.

she just thought the inauguration, the not real balls were frivolous. >> will you miss watching us in new york city. in new york there is often mention of the wilson girls in society. can you tell us a bit about their growing up and entering adulthood? >> he brought three daughters to the white house. >> yes and they were all roughly marriageable age when they get into the white house, so they go to balls and parties. allen is on record as saying that she doesn't approve of modern dances like the turkey trot. somebody else writes and says morris slaton who is a gossipy wife of a congressman. she kept a diary and said that they had been seen down at the military barracks turkey trotting with the rest -- with the best of them. she tried to keep a rein on her didhter's, and two of them

get married in the white house. considering that she was only in the white house for 17 months before she died, that is quite an accomplishment. she had a very big wedding for her first daughter, who was married in november. she had a very small, quiet waiting for her third daughter, who got married in may very shortly before ellen was bedridden. >> chad is in baltimore. after i wanted to know, eleanor passed away and before arrived. is it true that margaret became lady? facto first >> i think she became the hostess. there has to be an official hostess. one of wilson's cousins helped her out. margaret did not much want to be

the official hostess. she wanted to be a singer. she preferred to go to new york which is where she thought there were more opportunities to be a singer. i think the two of them tried to cope with the social duties. the social season was curtailed on the advice of ellen's social secretary ritchie felt that been a precedent stringy harrison administration when his wife had died they had curtailed the social season, so there wasn't too much entertaining that margaret had to do. >> despite her short tenure in the white house, ellen wilson brought on the rose garden. we will learn more about that in our next video. gardenre in prospect here in princeton new jersey. this is the garden that ellen wilson originally designed when she was resident of prospect house from 1902 to 1910. i think that here we see the full expression of ellen's aesthetic vision.

oil painter, very competent. she knows a lot of the american impressionist painters of the day. she loves to paint landscapes, and as a corollary to that she laid out this extraordinary people garden at the prospect house. , shelans to cedar trees plans all sorts of flowers. infection loves his garden so much that she hates to leave it when wilson enters politics and he enters princeton. she brings the white house gardener back to this garden at prospect house and says to the white house gardener, thus re- create the rose section of this garden at the white house. ellen wilson could look out of her bedroom window in prospect mansion and look right down and see the flowers all day. similarly, she wanted the president of the united states to be able to see roses when he looked out of his window in the white house.

this becomes a famous rose garden at the white house. ellen tragically doesn't live to see the rose garden completed, however. she is dying in the summer of 1914. she is wheeled out into the space outside in her wheelchair and she watches as a gardener works, but she doesn't live to see the completion of this vision she had for roses blooming at the white house. that is a vision that really begins here at aspect of art and in princeton. -- that begins here at prospect garden in princeton. >> here is a photograph of what it looks like you're in the wilson administration and here's what the rose garden looks like today. short tenure in the white house, she did during the 17 months. we talk about the alley clearance bill heard we talk about the rose garden and the fact that she was a professional

artist, one of the first ladies who brought her own profession to the white house. how significant was that in setting the standard for future first lady zacher >> i don't think it really set a standard for future first ladies hurried ellen did earn money from selling her paintings that she donated to charity that she had set up for her brother in memory of her brother who had died. i think the only first lady who earn money while she was in the white house was eleanor roosevelt. it did not become a first lady tradition and just as well. aaron in greenfield, california. guest: becky for taking my call. i have enjoyed your show very much. as is my second time calling. the last time i called was through your first season when you were talking about the two wives of john tyler. i very much enjoyed your show so far. about woodrow

wilson's first wife ellen. when she passed away, where was she buried and when her husband passed away he was an attorney in the washington d c area. bodyis first wife's reinterred to be buried next to him and also where was his second wife. when she passed away? >> thank you. >> the answer to that question about whether she was reinterred, the answer was no. she is buried in the family plot , the acts and plot in rome georgia. died, edith was pretty determined that he was not going to be buried with ellen. was he had been a president of princeton and the presidents of princeton are buried in a very nice cemetery. there have been some ill feeling and still was, so that was out.

in the meantime a very ambitious ship of washington, mr. friedman wanted to get famous people buried in the cathedral so you do have gotten admiral dewey. this is when washington cathedral was still very new. he approached you to about this and she liked the idea. he wanted to make the cathedral washington's westminster abbey and i was told that william howard taft granddaughter told him that when taft heard about this he said don't let those bodysnatchers at the cathedral get me. i think this is wonderful. this presbyterian present -- president was buried in an episcopal cathedral.

>> was she sick the entire time that she was in the white house for 13 months? >> as she was. you saw the pictures of her leaving princeton and even being in princeton. she had first developed kidney trouble in 1889 when her third child was born. decided at that time to have no more children. .hey used birth control she probably had been suffering from kidney disease for some time before she got to the white house, would be my guess. >> she was diagnosed with something called braces disease. the >> that is an archaic term for kidney disease. think they had a sophisticated tests as we have now. i was impressed that they were able to diagnose it as early as 1889. roosevelt first wife also died of kidney disease as well. she died quite early in their marriage. woodrow and ellen had been married for quite a while.

>> dennis mccarthy wants in on digg woodrow wilson become consumed with ellen's illness. to did affect his performance as president? >> not till the very end. by and large it was kept secret from him. >> i think everyone was in denial. her sheors kept telling would get better. i think the doctors were in denial. i don't think woodrow knew she was dying until the day she died . >> in the last few days when he was at her sick bed every possible minute, the world has literally fallen apart with world war i, and he had to deal with that. it's terrible. >> connie wants to